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Oh, yeah. Did your 2017 Baseball Life flash before your eyes last night, when you watch Garrett Richards mosey off the field accompanied by a trainer? No? Liar.
Now that I know that Richards was dealing with a bicep cramp and NOT a problem that would be tied to ligament issues, I'd like to point out how it was that Martin Madonado was the guy who was paying attention. It was as if Madonaldo needed a bullhorn to wake up the dugout. He couldn't get any response, so he took command and called the timeout and went out to the mound himself. That's what games in Oakland can do to you. Puts everybody asleep.
Richards, and that near-empty stadium, sure put the A's to sleep last night. A nice 5-0 win. as the heart of the order went 8 for 19. Kole Calhoun was on fire, going 3-5.
So, the Halos are in their first series and cannot do worse than split, with the final game set for 12:35 kickoff today. Richards was fantastic and his ligaments are holding up. Just some cramping to deal with. It's still early in the year. I'm hopeful that it's closer to spring groans than torn bones.
Hey, before we move along, this is a good point in the early season to note that there are 7 teams which have yet to lose, and 7 teams that have yet to win. One of the winless would be the Texas Rangers. How sad. No, really, I'm talking real Texas Tears. Note the 22 second mark. So which team do you think will be that last to take a loss, and which the last to fetch a win? Odds are this will all be settled before the weekend is out, so you only have 24 hours (and 2 Links postings) to think it through.
Have some Bullet-Dodging Links:
A Little Bit of Angels News
Have some Trout porn. I don't do enough of this. A couple of quick hits courtesy of High Heat Stats. The first show Trout as a Top 10 Historical Percenter already, with most of his career still in front of him.....The second shows him, well, second to none..........
Next up, Tyler Skaggs. We got him back in July of last season and he closed with a 4.17 ERA. Today he starts a campaign that should be just a tad less worrisome than that of Richards. We keep our fingers crossed...........
Hmmm. Looks like the franchise is already pretty impressed with the strong defensive performance of Martin Maldonado behind the plate. He's hitting his .200. I think I know where this one is heading..........
Another nut job who has run out of intelligent things to write about. Not caring that the Angels actually DO have a plan, and even we local fans can sniff it out as we follow along. And not caring that this plan is already making notable progress, this knucklehead pulls out a few Trade Trout plans of his own..........
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Everywhere In Baseball
They are doing it again. For some reason, people who write for a living need to have the ability to write about what player is "The Face of Baseball". Some go out and do surveys, others question the methodology of surveys, fans bicker back and forth. Blah blah blah. As I have pointed out, all you gotta do is open your eyes. It happens all by itself, and it is happening. Just dial up the Wayback Machine and look at the sporting Internet last week, as we approached Opening Day and everyone was trying to draw attention to their articles. Whose image was the one you saw most often? Yep, and all those were articles going out nationally, and internationally. When they needed to put their own work on the line, the face they used to identify baseball, and draw attention to themselves, was Mike Trout............
Rougned Odor, toughest guy in baseball? Or maybe still a guy who has not yet encountered his waterloo?.............
Here it comes. The third game of the season for the Padres. Jered Weaver takes the mound for the Pads against the Dodgers...........
We already know that the Marlins are for sale. What we don't know is who will be the lucky winner that we shall honor for taking Jeffrey Loria off our national dance floor? Of late are the possibilities of Jeb Bush, and Derek Jeter...........
Pedro Guerrero is fighting tough, and hanging in there. He is out of his coma, and talking with family, after having suffered (another) massive stroke.............
Man, if you ever want to make a case for the Designated Hitter, just take a fresh angle on the study of how pitchers add offensive value. While nice and fun numbers for pitchers, there is really not a lot of there, there. Certainly not much to worked up about, considering how many guys total are in the pool from which they are drawing.............
Seriously, it occurs to me that MLB should be encouraging minor league players to promote their journey to the Major Leagues using social media. First, it's a great way to connect to up and coming generations of fans. And, second, it's a great way to watch career Darwinism at work. What do I mean by that? I mean that it allows the prospects that are too dumb to stay out of trouble, to advertise that fact to their future potential employers............
Hey Mets, your pitching staff is getting decimated by injuries. We know how you feel. Do we have any sympathy for you, however? What? You didn't give a shit about us last year? Yeah, about that.............
Suzy Waldman, Yankees broadcaster, makes a claim that turns out to be bogus, and New York City goes apeshit. As if Clint Frazier doesn't have enough to deal with...........
This is something I should take up when I retire. I used to repair gloves in the neighborhood when I was a kid. No tool, not training, no skills, but a very strong sense of MacGyver flowing through my veins. Now I have a lifetime of tool handling, mountains of handcrafted success stories, and a workshop just itching for things to conquer. And, still, a strong sense of MacGyver flowing through my veins...........
.Hey, not all of you living here in Orange County. If you live near one of these parks, and love the idea of a meet-and-greet with Baseball Prospectus writers, and local Front Office personnel, you are in luck...........
Keep tabs on Disney, as they plan to rule the world of streaming that many of you have already fled over to, pretty much in your attempt to evade the grasp of Disney...........
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The Duffle Bag
Ump pwns a fan. Like, what, you didn't know the were normal?............Brilliant play. Disturbing uniforms, but brilliant play...........Just a quick reminder. It's a brand new season and he is still with us!..........Curt Schilling may never end up being a great source of ridicule...........MadBum got a call from the Hall of Fame. And MadBum said no..........You people haven't had any Tebow news for a while. So here...........Some mystery player requested to have his Texas Rangers uni sport the jersey number "69". Denied. The Rangers won't ever let anybody wear that number. Look it up. I'll give you one guess who the mystery player is............T-shirts dedicated to ballpark food............
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